What to look for as the Houston Rockets face the Memphis Grizzlies

The Houston Rockets will take on the Memphis Grizzlies tonight on ESPN at 9:30 p.m. ET. The Grizzlies head into tonight’s preseason bout 2-1 while the Rockets remain a perfect 3-0. The Rockets have beaten the Oklahoma City Thunder, Shanghai Sharks and the New York Knicks, each by a wide margin, and have shown very little regard to resting their starters – this was evidenced by the 37 minutes played by James Harden Monday night against the Knicks. The Grizzlies have beaten the Orlando Magic and the Philadelphia 76ers but fell short to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.

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For the Rockets, Tarik Black didn’t make the trip to New York and will not be joining the team in Memphis, either. Black has a sore knee that still has some swelling in it but D’Antoni isn’t very worried – it seems as if they’ll try to get him back for the final home game but just want to make sure he’s healthy moving into the season. Chris Paul sat out last game with a sudden right shoulder contusion but that was the first we heard of a shoulder injury. Paul will officially play tonight and Mike D’Antoni revealed that Paul would’ve played the last game if it were a regular season game. That being said, the preseason is taken very seriously in Houston as Harden explained.

The Grizzlies will be without likely starting two-guard Ben McLemore as he’s recovering from foot surgery. Fellow shooting guard Wayne Selden is doubtful after a quad injury. Marc Gasol made his preseason debut against the Hawks on Monday after tweaking his ankle earlier this summer, he’s expected to play against the Rockets. These teams will see each other four times within the first month of the NBA season so expect the stars, and coaches, to try and get a good look at the opposing team.

James Harden and the rest of the backcourt are shooting lights out but the front court will need to make an impact tonight (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images).

The story this preseason for the Rockets has been their scoring and three-point shooting. To put it in perspective, the Rockets have made 68 three’s in four games; the Grizzlies have only taken 72 three-point attempts in their four games. The Rockets are sporting a starting lineup of Paul, Harden, Trevor Ariza, Ryan Anderson and Clint Capela tonight. Paul and Harden will look to get back to their usual rotations as they start on the floor together before Paul is taken off and replaced by sharpshooter Eric Gordon in the backcourt. Around this time, expect to see P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute enter the game. At some point around here, we’ll also see Nene take the floor at the center position. This is the usual nine-man rotation the Rockets have been using and it’s worked in a number of ways.

The Rockets have the ability to get out in transition playing with a much quicker lineup than most teams – we’ve seen Tucker play at either the four or five on occasion and force steals when the opposing big man has the ball in the high post leading to an easy bucket on the other end. One thing the Rockets struggled with against the Knicks was their defensive transition play. The Rockets were gave the ball up 24 times which led to a number of opportunities on the break for the Knicks. We saw multiple buckets by Tim Hardaway Jr. in transition and even a couple and-one plays. The Rockets have struggled a bit with big, versatile centers as Enes Kanter put up 14 points and eight rebounds in only 25 minutes. Even Kyle O’Quinn came off the bench and was able to get four assists and six boards. Michael Beasley came off the bench as a stretch-four type of player and torched the Rockets for 17 points (7-11 shooting) before leaving with an injury.

While he may not be the flashiest player out there, Mike Conley sure has a talent for finding ways to beat the defense consistently (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images).

Tonight, the Rockets have to contain the criminally underrated Mike Conley – a threat shooting the ball, getting to the basket, passing it and a major threat on defense. Gasol will also need to be watched as he is supremely talented in just about every facet of the game and is larger than every rotation big on the roster. He could have a massive game and be a real thorn in the Rockets’ side tonight.

It will be interesting to see whether the Rockets elect to go the route they did against the Thunder playing starters 30+ minutes or if they decide to play some of the back-of-the-roster guys more considering roster cuts need to be made. Judging by the tone of the team, the Rockets seem determined to get into midseason form by opening night of the regular season. I’m anticipating starters to reach somewhere around 30 minutes per game. As for the final rosters, Chris Johnson has consistently been the first non-rotation guy on the court suggesting he’s one of the frontrunners to make it. Beyond him, it’s tough to say – it seems like practice and playing position could determine whether a player makes it on the roster.

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